HANABETH Luke joined Emerald Beach locals for ‘Politics in the Sand’ on Sunday, March 20 for a surf and ‘meet and greet’.

Ms Luke is a Senior lecturer in Science and Regenerative Agriculture at Southern Cross University who announced her candidacy for the Federal seat of Page on 27 January, and has been endorsed by Voices for Page.

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She told News Of The Area, “I was frustrated by Barnaby Joyce and the National Party and their approach to climate change.

“I teach students who are on the land and they wrote heart-breaking assessments about their experiences.

“When Barnaby Joyce said that emissions can’t be cut because it would affect farmers I realised that he wasn’t representing them.

“The money given away to coal and gas should be given to farmers.

“It’s $10 billion, $4 dollars a day per Australian,” she said.

Once she decided to run, Ms Luke said she began to find out more about the electorate.

It shocked her to find that Page is the eighth poorest electorate in the country and has been going backwards under the current government.

Ms Luke said, “As an academic, I have to prove everything I say or publish, and I didn’t realise that politicians and political parties can say whatever they like.

“We need integrity in politics and if people like me don’t stand up nothing’s going to change,” she said.

Ms Luke said that the housing crisis in Page has now turned into a housing catastrophe.

“We have smart solutions in the community and we need to listen to the people as well as the developers,” she said.

She is very worried that if decisive action is not taken now, money will be wasted.

“We need to support mental health as well – people need homes and services now,” she said.

By Andrew VIVIAN